Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortization will probably be 1.8 billion euros ($2.5 billion)
to 2.1 billion euros, the Essen-based company said today in a
statement. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted full-year profit of 2.13 billion euros.

The company last year announced a savings program, cutting
jobs and slimming the executive board after it had to abandon
its annual profit and sales goals. A slowdown in the automotive
industry weighed on prices at butadiene-based operations. While
sales are expected to rise “slightly” in 2014, selling prices
“could be below the average for 2013,” the CEO said.

“We will be raising the efficiency of our operational and
administrative areas still further,” Engel said today.

Engel is budgeting for the first results of an additional
savings program introduced in the second half of 2013 to feed
into results this year, having already taken measures to save
280 million euros a year. Global growth will pick up, though
“considerable uncertainty” exists around emerging markets,
Evonik said.

The German chemical maker is spending 6 billion euros on
expansion through 2016, including a 500 million-euro methionine
factory in Singapore that will boost capacity by more than a
third.

Dividend Boost

Management proposed an 8.7 percent increase in the annual
dividend payout to 1 euro. Adjusted Ebitda dropped 15 percent in
the fourth quarter to 386 million euros. Analysts had predicted
381.2 million euros. Sales dropped 1 percent to 3.14 billion
euros, in line with estimates.

The stock has dropped 15 percent since the chemical maker’s
listing in April of last year, cutting the market value to 13.1
billion euros. Only about 14 percent of shares are freely
traded, with majority owner RAG foundation still holding 68
percent. CVC Capital Partners owns about 17.9 percent.